Oral Secrets :D

Many people seem to score the highest in their orals and some even get FULL MARKS, it first sounded impossible to me(since that means one has to be fluent and exceptionally good like a native speaker), but then...seeing lots people getting ful marks ornear full marks, I am starting to think that there are some kind of "secrets" people are using..XD :biggrin:

So yeah, for those of you, regardless of GCSE, A-level or etc, how did you prepare for your oral exams in order to get the full mark or near full mark (or basically just a high mark :biggrin:

)? What are you secrets to it? :biggrin:

And does it depend on your exam board? :biggrin:

Generally, I am not very good with orals, but one tip I got from my friend has been working pretty well for me..at least in my mocks.. :biggrin:

. And that is....
...waffle.XDDD Waffle until you have thought of stuff to say.XD

Reply 1

megan28

I got my best marks in my oral section for both spanish and french gcse and as.
For me it is literally all about practice and confidnece.
You have to feel comfortable with the examiner, for me that is my teacher which helps.
In the run up to it, be prepared to talk to everyone in your chosen langauge - I'm sure my mum learnt a low about spains low birthrate last may even though she speaks no spanish because i just kept reciting my speech.
I even found myself doing it in Smiths once! haha.

I also find that you know exactly what is coming up in the oral - especially at gcse.
You will know your speech if you have one, by heart.
roleplays are just set phrases.
general conversations are topics you will have discussed.
And we did so many documents, you learn how to answer them like any other question.

and yes waffle.
it makes you sound more fluent.
And the less your teacher has to ask questions the better!

Reply 2

Nimbus

Well, at my school, we are expected to reply spontaneously, so basically, it's not like in year 9 or something, the teacher tells you your topic and you go and prepare a speech and learn it and say it.
I do edxcel german GCSE and there are soo many questions that it's impossible to prepare for all of them, you just have to think up of something fast.

It's like a drama play to me really, you just have to imitate and be good at improvisation.

Generally, learn as much vocab as possible so you are not stuck with choices.

Reply 3

Speedbird2008

I got full marks in my French... I am just naturally good at it; fluently spoken (as in it flows well, I'm not French and do not have any French relations) and with a good accent.

Reply 4

Excalibur

I think I got full marks in GCSE, but at AS it was my worst section.... I guess what you should do is learn a few key phrases/sentence starters etc that you can fall back on and thoroughly prepare what you could say in terms of *content* - but never really prepare word-for-word as that would be counter-productive and defeats the object.

Reply 5

Fillette

Urm....I spoke.

Reply 6

A Beautiful Nightmare

In my German GCSE, my teacher uh, had all my notes on the table facing her...

I could read it upside down :redface:

Reply 7

ormaybeitsjustnarcissism

I recorded myself saying everything so many ways
1 recording saying the question and then the answer for each topic
1 saying the question three times then the answer three times
1 saying the question and answer to each topic three times
1 saying each sentence of my presentation three times
1 saying my presentation three times
1 saying each paragraph three times
etc

Then I put all that on Media Player, put Media Player on shuffle and talked along with myself,
Not only did I do well I got over my fear/disgust of listening to my own voice on tape :smile:

Reply 8

Anatheme

IAmElectroBoy : I love your sign, Robots In Disguise rock !

And about orals, it is impossible for me to achieve full mark (French system, don't ask me why ...), but to be well prepared, I speak in the foreign language to myself. I imagine stupid discussion between people. That worked pretty well for me.

Reply 9

ormaybeitsjustnarcissism

Anatheme

IAmElectroBoy : I love your sign, Robots In Disguise rock !

Thanks

It's amazing how many people have commented!

Reply 10

LeeHyori

Fluency is the biggest bonus ever!
Followed by accent
Followed by . . . complex sstructures/gramar, individuality . . .
Currently studying for GCSEs and in mocks I did well in orals - - - I got 86/90 in German and I was not prepared. However, my accent is decent, I have a fair amount of vocab in my head and I actually spoke quite constantly (butI froze once - I was like OMG, because I was soOo nervous ) - I basically had to name ANY TYPE OF PROGRAMME but I was so nervous my mind was blank-
LOL IN french I had learnt 50% of my presentation as I lost it the night before with the prepared questions and answers for section 2 -so I thought I would fail going. I ended up getting 3rd highest in the year (w00t for me). I think it is ause I am more confident with french, therefore I am more fluent . . . also my vocab is quite good e.t.c
Try and prepare --- But the best thing to do is RELAX and NOT PANIC - if you do you will just freeze like me - even if you get an easy q - actually you probably wont freeze like me; I am just weird like that, xD

Reply 11

Nimbus

I always thought it was (waffle), then grammar/vocab. :biggrin:

because waffle=saviour=fluency=ticks=marks=win!
For my german mock, I didn't prepare and I just waffled my way through. I totally relied on waffling and vocab and managed to get 85/90 at the end when I thought I just failed, so woot, go waffle!

Reply 12

city_chic

Fillette&#8482

Urm....I spoke.

Reply 13

plopSDCSDC

Well i did GCSE french, not at A level anymore but i some how got full marks in my oral at gcse. anyway, what we was told to do was basically write out an amazing speech and *literally* remember of by heart and just keep doing it over and over again, and then add more flare and proper confidence to it. I think even if your blagging it, i think the tone and confidence in your voice is so important, because at the end of the day, teh examiner can only hear your voice, so i guess if they can "feel" your confidence in your voice then thats a major plus.

for questions and stuff off the cuff, just try and think about all the vocab you go through in your class, the sentences, the topics etc, and let those ideas just expand and "snowball" in your head.

anyway, hope thats alright x

Reply 14

fourr

I don't know what level you're studying at.. But I do A Level Spanish, and I think the most important factor in AS/A2 is to take the lead in the conversation.
We have various topics which might come up in the "general discussion" so it's kinda hard to prepare for, but I think as long as you know something about it (e.g. one is Europe (????), I'd say talk about the Euro. or something.)
+ vocab vocab vocab. Try reading/listening to stuff in the target language too. Real stuff. (Tho if you're only at gcse I appreciate that might be difficult.)